Part 2: Developing a theme
The next steps to a finished product
I did some math, and from the time a student enters their dorms at WVU to the time they walk across the stage, they’re in college for 24,024 hours - enough time to become an expert according to Mr. Gladwell.
It also got us thinking, what, in those 24,000 hours, did a student do? Where did they spend most of their time? What was the most significant moment of time during their college careers?
If you think back to your time in college (or even high school), you spent your time somewhere, whether it was in the library, at the bar or in your apartment. For me, it was at the WVU student newspaper, The Daily Athenaeum. I spent more than 50 hours per week there over the last two years of my undergrad career. I made life-long friends there. I gained experience there that allowed me to get the job that I have today, as well. It was a time I will never forget. I know there are other stories out there, too.
I set out to find some of those stories as part of our “Meet the Graduates” series, and after some searching, seven students were chosen. Once approved, our group set off for interviews, photos, etc.
We spoke with a nursing student who nearly died in a car wreck and failed out of school due to nerves yet found a way to make it through.
We talked to an international student who always felt at home at WVU despite never stepping foot on campus but a few days before classes started his freshman year.
We interviewed so many interesting students with powerful success stories.
Rarely do we get the chance to work with such freedom on a project like this, but this was different. There wasn’t an approved list of questions or a defined definition by anyone outside of our working group. That made for some magic.
We interviewed each person for at least an hour, so they could tell us their story. Then, our multimedia specialists spent the day with each of them for photos.
This is what it turned out to be: http://wvutoday.wvu.edu/features/24000.
